Scammers

Squawks and Lily glanced at each other. They still weren't sure what to think about Nick, but assuming the prophecy was accurate, this was their chance.

"I'm Squawks, the Captain of a small group of mercenaries. This is Lily, my deputy and scout," Squawks introduced them with a polite smile.

"Nice to meet you, Squawks. Lily." Nick nodded at them in greeting.

"..."

"I'll cut to the chase, then. Why did you want to meet me? Ah, I already heard from Sosora that a seer told you about an Outsider in Tiabe. I want to know why that was enough for you to venture into this place. You're aware of the dangers, right?"

"We're aware." Squawks nodded before shooting Lily a glance. She was being too stiff to seduce this guy. Why had he even brought her along?

"We've always been curious, I guess. So when we heard about an Outsider in the center of Tiabe, we couldn't help ourselves," Squawks explained apologetically while scratching the back of his head with one hand while the other rested on his lap.

Nick narrowed his eyes. He did not believe that for a second. If they were so curious that they would brave this central region of the forest, something that it seemed many residents of Tiabe were reluctant to do, why were they not throwing questions at his face like rotten tomatoes at a bad comic?

"No…That's not it. You're a mercenary captain, you said?" Nick asked with a raised eyebrow.

"That's right." Squawks nodded with pride in his voice.

Nick crossed his arms.

"You were hoping to make money, then. Is that it? Did someone pay you to try and find me? Who and why?"

Squawks' eyes widened. He shook his head.

"No, no one paid us. It's actually illegal to enter the forest, and if someone paid us to do it, they wouldn't escape the sentence."

"Exactly. How was 'mere' curiosity enough for you two to enter the forest, then? What are you hoping to gain from meeting me?" Nick didn't beat around the bush.

"A friend of mine disappeared into the forest a couple of weeks ago—"

"No." Nick shot down Squawks' lie instantly.

"My grand uncle disappeared years ago—"

"Again. No. If you have no interest in telling the truth, I have no interest in listening." Nick stood up and looked at Sosora.

"Sosora, do you mind showing them the way out?"

"Wait!" Lily shouted before Sosora could answer. Nick looked at her while she turned to Squawks.

"I think honesty is our best bet right now."

"What? What is it with you and being honest? It never works!"

"How would you know when you've never tried?"

"I have tried!"

"Ahem." Nick cleared his throat, telling them that he was still waiting.

Lily ignored Squawks' stern eyes and looked straight at Nick.

"A group of seers called the Minal told Captain something along the lines of 'Whosoever holds the heart of the Outsider in their hands shall experience great fortune.' That's why we're here."

Nick's brow sank into a deep frown.

"Literally or figuratively."

Lily shrugged.

"It's a prophecy, so it could be either or both."

Nick's frown deepened.

"So you came here to try and make me fall in love with you?" He asked doubtfully.

"Well…something like that."

At Lily's dubious answer, Nick's gaze darkened.

"You came here, willing to kill me and take my heart, all because of a bunch of scammers?" He glared at them, daring them to answer.

It was one thing to be fooled by a bunch of scammers. It was something else entirely if they were willing to kill for them.

"See, Captain? Even this guy knows the Minal are scammers!" Lily turned to Squawks, who was sitting with his head in his hands. It was clear that Nick was not interested in giving them his heart. Telling him about the prophecy was a mistake.

"Are you sure?" He asked Lily.

"He's living here in the most dangerous part of the forbidden forest. An Aer warrior is doing his bidding. A powerful monster disappeared from his doorstep. If we had succeeded, I'm pretty sure we would have experienced great fortune, one way or another." Squawks sighed and stood up.

He looked at Nick. He considered trying out the literal part of the prophecy. Maybe it wasn't too late.

But something deep within him told him not to. His hand did not move to the hilt of his sword.

"I'm sorry about this, I guess. We'll leave."

Lily was stunned. She couldn't remember ever hearing her captain apologize. She looked away from the traces on the lawn and at her captain with a slack jaw.

Squawks turned around, forcing Lily to stand up and hurry after him.

Nick was relieved. That had ended surprisingly easy. Once they admitted to potentially being willing to carve out his heart, he was worried that they were actually going to try.

He looked at Sosora. Her gaze was covered with dark clouds as she looked at the backs of the two humans. She had also heard what they had considered doing just because they were greedy. Typical humans. But she had also noticed Squawks' readiness to draw his weapon.

He was lucky that he hadn't gone through with it for multiple reasons.

"It might be best to see them out of the forest," Nick said, snapping Sosora out of her murderous daze.

"You're right." She stood up and nodded at Nick before leaving to guide the two humans out of the forest and make sure they didn't try anything on the way out. Nick looked at them leave his clearing and disappear among the trees before he went about mogin in the chairs again.

Once he was done, he sat down on the porch again.

'They knew they were scammers but still came? Crazy people, I swear,' Nick complained to himself with a sigh. He didn't know what their deal was or what they had actually expected to happen, but he was happy to be rid of them.

He looked at the blue sky. He hoped the tentacle would wake up soon. It had stayed in the basement with a closed door ever since it snagged the Roaring Boar.

Suddenly, he was moved out of his thoughts as he heard a rustling from the brushes.